November Author Reading: Sharon Mehdi

November Author Reading: Sharon Mehdi

Join us for our next Author Reading on Friday, November 9 at 5 pm as Jacksonville author Sharon Mehdi reads excerpts from her newly published books, “Eleanor Bobbin,” “The Great Spirit Grandmother Gathering,” and “The Curious Quest for Absolute Truth.”

Sharon Mehdi is a writer, teacher, mother and grandmother. She has lived and worked in Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Guatemala, France and Canada.

The Great Silent Grandmother Gathering: A Story for Anyone Who Thinks She Can’t Save the World

A story for anyone who thinks she can’t save the world. “On a buffety, blustery early summer day, when the news was bad and the sky turned yellow, a strange thing happened in the town where I live.” So begins this moving and enchanting story of two grandmothers who, by standing in the park all day long-“not speaking, not looking at squirrels, not munching on coconut candy”-soon have everyone in town talking. A young girl informs the stumped observers shyly, “they’re saving the world.” These simple acts and words have an enormous impact on the town and soon on towns all over the world.At a time when the news is bad and many people feel powerless, this inspiring story tells of two women who do something so simple that at first no one takes them very seriously, but soon, when they are joined by other women, and then many other women, their simple act of caring has the power to transform the world. Together, these women discover great things are possible-even, and especially, peace.

A Curious Quest for Absolute Truth

I was six the first time I heard the word immortal, and on its heels, eternal and infinite. Thus were the seeds of obsession sown.

Two years earlier my grandfather had mysteriously disappeared. Mysteriously to me anyway. Everyone else knew exactly where he was — the family plot in Sweet Angels of Mercy Cemetery on Iowa Street. “When is he coming back?” I asked every few days.

The answer was always the same. “With grandpa, you never really know.”

When I finally learned the whereabouts of my missing grandfather, I was rife with questions about where people go when they die and how long they have to stay there. The answers were troubling. The idea of being put in a box in the ground without anything to eat or even a flashlight was a fate I was eager to avoid.

Whether out of pity or exasperation, my Grandma Great said there was something I could do so I would never die. “Tell me! Tell me!” I begged.

She cleared her throat and straightened her spectacles. “Write one book,” she said in her most serious voice, “one book so filled with absolute truth it will make you immortal.”

I’d been given a reprieve! No boxes in the ground for me. All I had to do was write a book. That sounded easy enough. “I’ll do it!” I shouted and bounced around the room like a beach ball.

It wasn’t long before I realized that before I could write a book filled with absolute truth, I had to figure out what was absolutely true. And in my family, that was challenging indeed.

Book One: Snippets from the Early Years, is the poignant, irresistible, laugh-out-loud beginning of this best-selling author’s Curious Quest for Absolute Truth. A journey that takes her decades longer and continents farther than she or her Grandma Great ever dreamed possible.

Eleanor Bobbin and the Magical, Merciful, Mighty Art of Kindness

The world is once again in chaos. Rancor and retribution rule the day. Greed, fear and demagoguery have been crowned King of All That Is. For many, there seems to be no hope.

And yet. . .and yet. . .hidden beneath the helplessness and hopelessness there is a glimmer of light. So faint it can be seen only in the darkest of dark nights.

If this tiny flicker had a name, it might be called forgiveness, compassion, kindness or love. Such little words. But the one thing I know for sure is that they can create miracles. They can make the impossible possible. They can heal lives. And sometimes, whole communities. Just ask Eleanor Bobbin.

Come to Art Presence Art Center and enjoy an evening with champagne, snacks and some good stories by a wonderful local writer!